When it comes to decorating, my style is to stick with neutrals for the furniture and have the colorful accents do the talking. Colorful pieces give that pop and pizzazz and let your personality shine, especially when set against a crisp, white background. Throw pillows + fresh cut flowers are my go-to decor, it’s incredible what a burst of color and the sweet perfume of flowers can do to elevate a room and your mood! Seasonal Affective Disorder, meet your match.

Even though I'm definitely more comfortable donning bright colors all the time, something about wearing neutrals in the winter just seems right. The rich caramel browns and light heathery grays are so subtle and pretty, and I feel like I can't get away with wearing them any other time of the year! Two items I've been turning to over and over lately are this comfy tunic sweater and this tassel tote (the ultimate leather look alike!). They are both so classic and versatile and look great with everything.

*****Updated 10/28/14: Due to the volume of spam addresses entered in the September 2014 mailing, we have changed the way our Free Sticker Program works. We had over 30,000 fake entries, so we could not continue this program any longer!*******

We still offer FREE Stickers to our customers! We just ask that you pay shipping fees! You can check out with only stickers in your cart or add them to a customized order! Order here. We do not accept self addressed envelopes and are unable to send out stickers without an order in our system.

We've been getting some questions about our FREE sticker program, so we wanted to give you a little more information!!

How long does the program run? On the 1st of each month, we will roll out our featured stickers! You can view the Free ML Stickers Category anytime between the first and last day of the month to sign up to receive that month's free stickers!

Do I have to sign-up each month? Yes! Each month you will need to re-enter your information to receive the next month's featured stickers.

When will I get my stickers? On the last day of each month, we will download the spreadsheet with everyone's information! We will use this spreadsheet to create mailing envelopes with your stickers! They will be mailed via USPS snail mail! Depending on the volume of customers who enter their information to receive these stickers, it might take us a while to get everything packaged and ready to ship out! We appreciate your patience!

Is there a limit? Yes! We are limiting the free stickers to one set per household. We will review the spreadsheet at the end of each month and delete any duplicates! We appreciate your understanding! We will only be mailing on sticker set per address. Domestic only.

What if you don't want to wait for the free stickers?

That's fine! All of our stickers are available for purchase on our website!

They are all $1 with free shipping!

If you purchase a sticker you will still receive your free sticker at the end of the month as long as you signed up for that month's sticker!

Peace, Love & Monogram,

Marleylilly Staff

*****Updated 10/28/14: Due to the volume of spam addresses entered in the September 2014 mailing, we have changed the way our Free Sticker Program works. We had over 30,000 fake entries, so we could not continue this program any longer!*******

We know it's hard to contain your excitement, but you MUST wait for the wallpaper section to download fully before clicking to create!

This should take 3-5 minutes depending on your WiFi connection speed! Once that has completed, you should have full access to everything!! We appreciate your patience!! Don't forget, we're giving away a $50 gift card to one lucky wallpaper creator who uses the tag #marleylilly!! Ends 3/28!! If you have questions, contact us through the Marketing tab of the app!!

MAC Blush (Pink Swoon)- Great color, just the perfect pop of pink for your cheeks.

Watt's Up- I love High Beam but after using this I may not go back. Def worth trying.

Estee Lauder Double Wear- I have heard such great reviews on this products so I had to give it a try. Pros- it is a great coverage without feeling heavy. Cons- Small tube for the cost, I feel like it will not last long. Still loving my Drugstore cheapy Revlon Photo Ready!

Smashbox Primer- I'm not much of a primer girl but after using this a few times I can really tell the difference. My foundation goes on so smooth and helps give that flawless finish.

Elf Bronzer- Lets start by saying this is $3.00 Sold and sold. Not to mention its basically the same thing as my Nars bronzer so definitely a great buy!

Marc Jacobs Concealer (Stand Corrected)- I splurged on this only because I had a gift card but of course its amazing and will have to buy it again. I use it over my foundation as a highlighter, awesome stuff.

One thing I've really focused on this year is drinking more water and green tea. So far, it's worked! However, I realized that drinking more water is a lot easier when you spread the amount out throughout the day instead of drinking it all at once because then you'll feel like you'll explode!

I follow a lot of fitness accounts on Twitter, and when I came across the picture below, I saved it to my phone because I love it. It gives an easy plan to drinking more water, and I think it's so cool how it shows how water actually helps the body!

If you follow the amount that the picture says, it will be a total of seven glasses because there are three meals in a day. You're supposed to drink at least eight glasses of water a day, so you could add an extra glass to before taking a bath or before going to bed! You'll most likely end up drinking more than eight glasses a day if you follow this schedule anyway if you have water with your breakfast, lunch, dinner, and any snacks.

I've been drinking two water bottles throughout each school day, so I'll be golden if I add this list onto it. I'm excited to try this idea!

Happy Friday Y'all! We'd like to introduce you to Shannon from Prep Avenue! She's a freshman in college attending Furman University in sunny South Carolina (not too far from our production facility)! She's writes an adorable blog, so you need to follow along! We hope you enjoy her first one here on the Monogrammed Life! Be sure to check out her full bio on our Meet the Bloggers Page! Enjoy!

Dress codes can be tricky. You don’t want to be overdressed for an event, but you

definitely don’t want to be under-dressed either.

I saw this picture the other day on pinterest and it seemed way to relevant. With sorority and fraternity functions and formals taking up basically every weekend here on campus, and prom season (post coming soon!) right around the corner I feel like everyone is in a dress craze right now.

My good friend K (the one who curled my hair so pretty!) got asked to a fraternity function a few days ago and we were told that the dress code was “cocktail”. As we scoured the Internet for the “perfect” cocktail attire dress I thought it would be perfect to differentiate between all the dress codes!

One of the most frequent emails I receive is what advice I have for new and beginner bloggers. Instead of responding individually each time and potentially forgetting some tips I thought it would be beneficial for all if I shared on here some of the tips I have and personally think to be the most useful.

Even if you aren't a beginner maybe you will be able to be reminded of some effective ideas and techniques to use while blogging!

(PS. I do not really have any tips for layout or side apps considering I struggled with that too! Google will be your best friend if you are looking for advice in that department!)

1. Start blogging for yourself not for followers.

I feel like this is one of the biggest mistakes that can be made when starting a blog. Immediately thinking that you are going to be incredibly popular with 100s of followers is a sure fire way to be discouraged by blogging! If you start for yourself you will likely be more consistent and create engaging and interesting posts because of your genuine interest in the subject which will likely cause you to continue blogging based on your personal enjoyment in creating posts.

2. Make it unique, don't steal someone else's name or content.

As a blogger this is the absolute most frustrating thing to see. Personally I spent days trying to think of a clever name for my blog and searching around to make sure that it did not already exist. Seeing people create blogs, instagram, twitters, etc with any spin on the name Prep In Your Step (ie. prep in my step, a little prep in your step etc.) frustrates and discourages me. Seeing someone else take something that you labored over is not reassuring (in all honesty the phrase "imitation is the best form of flattery" is false) and is instead discouraging due to the thought you put into it being taken with no thought behind it at all. The same goes for posts, while it is great to take inspiration from other bloggers (hello, we are all hoping to inspire you) it is not fair to steal direct content whether it be photos or text from them without giving credit where needed. I know this sounds like I am lecturing on plagiarism and I will not deny that! If you feel like something is bordering on copying shoot an email to the blogger or give credit where it is deserved but whatever you do, do not claim something for your own if it is not!

3. Utilize social media.

I have a very strong belief that social media is one of the reasons that my blog is where it is today. I entered the blogging world to have an outlet from homework and soccer and share fun ideas I have with others if they cared to read them. I hit it at a time where people were looking for things and ideas like posts I had and the rest is history but I have since worked to grow some by utilizing social media. Have a pinterest? Link it! Clever on twitter? Share that with your readers? Took an amazing photo of a stylish outfit you wore? Put it on instagram! By reaching people on many different social media platforms you are expanding your potential reader base infinitely! If your images or blog graphics are creative then pin them to pinterest! Pinterest is one of my most highly used means of finding other stellar blogs to follow and it has been the same thing for my blog!

4. Write down ideas as you think of them.

If you are sitting around and suddenly have an epiphany about a fabulous post idea I encourage you to write it down right away! At some point I feel like every blogger goes through a phase when they feel as though they have nothing to talk about. If you have been writing down ideas as you think of them then you now have a wealth of ideas to pull from and be inspired by! I keep a notebook and it is a saving grace to me! I also have amazing friends who I talk about my blog with and they are always awesome about providing feedback and ideas for me to use and brainstorm on! Also, if you are feeling in a slump with no ideas then ask your friends/readers/family for ideas you never know when you may hear of something you've never seen done before! Chances are if you spontaneously think of a blog idea then it is most likely pretty creative so do your best not to loose the idea, write it down, and save it for later! This leads me to…

5. Schedule blog posts in advance and when you have time, be consistent.

This is kind of like 2 tips in 1! As a student I know what it is like to have a limited amount of time and although I love creating blog graphics and posts as study breaks sometimes I am just too swamped! When that happens I am super thankful for the option to schedule posts in advance (that is how this is going up now!). This is where your notepad of great blog post ideas comes in. When you have time or when you are feeling particularly bloggy one day write a few (or 10) of those post ideas up to have for later! This will save you when you are randomly assigned to read a book, research for 2 papers, write bibliographies, finish a paper, and take a test all in one week (aka this week). Now on to the second part of this tip! By having all of these posts saved up from when you were really in the mood to blog you now have the ability to be more consistent! Consistency is key with blogging. By consistency I don't mean that you need to blog daily but instead you need to have an uploading schedule so that your readers can begin to understand what to expect (but hey, you still better be blogging for you!). For me personally at this time I do my very best to have a post up each weekday at 8:30 CST. This is what works for me now but is subject to change at any time and it is unlikely that catastrophe will ensue as long as I am consistent with my upload schedule if it changes! Lately I have been contemplating cutting back on the number of posts just so that my content is seen by more people not because I don't enjoy creating posts (because believe me I do)! I feel like this is a major struggle of bloggers, wanting more people to read each post that you labor over but being too excited to post your next idea to hold out on posting it!

6. Use good quality photographs, preferably your own.

I am well aware that not everyone has access to a fancy camera or even a digital camera to take good photos with. If you fall into that category by no means have that stop you from creating a blog! However, I find that people are more drawn to my posts if my photos quality is better! I too am totally guilty of finding photos on pinterest and posting them on here and if you are inspired by them go for it, that is great but throwing in photos of your own is one of the best ways to capture your audiences attention (and it would be great to share on social media, tip 3 as well as being unique, tip 2). Also, bonus tip, try to include at least one image in every post! That will be the reason people click on the post but the content will surely invite them to stay!

7. Share your advice and open up to readers.

Hmmm, I wonder if this post falls into this category… Kidding, but honestly your readers will think more highly of you if you are relatable in some sense and often the best way to do that is to share your advice and experiences with them and be willing to communicate with them. Why do you think I share details about my life? First, so that I will be able to look back on all of this and secondly because I want y'all to see me as a human being that can relate to all of your emotions and perhaps help and share in any way possible!

8.Welcome feedback and connect with your readers.

Kind of ironic that I am saying that considering I am terrible about getting around to responding to emails (SORRY!). Respond to comments, be active on twitter and tweet back, appreciate feedback, all of this will make your entire experience more worthwhile!

Whew, did you make it?

I really really hope that many of y'all found this helpful since this post has been a labor of love and over 2 years of learning and growing with Prep In Your Step to make it!

I would really appreciate hearing what you think about my tips and would graciously allow any other tips people may have to be posted in the comments!

What's a better way to start off derby season than a week long giveaway event!?

That's right, it's time for MARLEYLILLY DERBY DAYS!!!

It's a week long extravaganza of giveaways with a new winner EVERY DAY!!

Whether you are headed to the beach, the pool or the races - we have 150+ styles available that will fit everyone's personality!

We love derby season so much we want to give all of our fans the opportunity to win their very own Marleylilly Monogrammed Derby Hat! Make sure you are following us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & Pinterest for a chance to win every day this week!

We also wanted to share our favorite Derby Day looks with you! We love these fun, bright, and adorably classy, but trendy ensembles that were just made that much better with a little touch of Marleylilly Monogram (or two)!!

Spring break is fastly approaching, so it's definitely time to start thinking about what to pack for your time on the beach. I am only a slightly bit partial to the lovely Lilly Pulitzer (ha), and in my opinion it's the most appropriate brand for every sunny and bright occasion! Here is a complete shopping guide for a Lilly-themed vacation!

Maxi dresses are quickly becoming my favorite types of dresses for the spring. You can dress them up and down, which is great for Spring Break. I bought the Emmett maxi in purple and I am really excited to wear it. It's very comfortable and it's going to look great with a tan! Y'all know of my obsession with the Luxury capri, and they go great with the new peplum top (in three different prints) from Lilly. Strapless dresses are my preferred style of dresses, and the Richelle dress is absolutely adorable. The tie-back is great, and it can also double as a Carolina Cup dress! Lastly, the Colleen Romper is a nice alternative to dresses or the top/white jeans combo. I don't really know how they would look on me, but the rompers that Lilly offers are super cute!

I have been diligently working out and dieting for the past five weeks for my spring break bikinis! Even though I'm going to be wearing a lot of Victoria's Secret bikinis, my personal favorites have always been from Lilly. I like the string bottoms and bandeau tops the best. The Sarasota tunic is a nice coverup and can also double as a cute top for after the beach. I have the Athena sweater in blue (can't wait to wear it), and I've decided I really like the Beach Pant! The prints are really cute this season, and they're extremely comfy!

While it is very short, the Tate skirt is a nice casual alternative to a dress, but not as casual as shorts. I looove the Skipper Popover (I have it in white) and I definitely plan on bringing it with me to Florida. The Andie boatneck is perfect to pair with the Tate skirt, but can also be dressed up with jewelry to wear with the Luxury capri!

Lastly, I have finally decided that the McKim's are wayyyy better than Jack Rogers. Don't get me wrong, I love my Jack's, but they are so dang uncomfortable. I wore my McKim's every day last summer and I can't wait to start wearing them again! The Coastal tote is good to take to the beach because it's plastic. And finally, if you're going out and don't want to wear regular sandals, the Kristen wedges are a great choice!

More updates to come on what I'm packing for Spring Break? What are y'alls essentials? Let me know!

The Monogrammed Life

Welcome to The Monogrammed Life, a fashion and lifestyle blog owned by Marleylilly - Monogrammed Gifts! Thanks for stopping by! We hope you'll stick around and find some inspiration here. Peace, love, and monograms!